Is Sawk Good in Black & White Playthrough?
Fighting with the upgraded AbilitySturdy surviving any hit at full HP. Wild on Route 10. Single-stage with higher Attack and Speed than Throh. AbilitySturdy guarantees at least one hit. A fast Fighting option that contributes through the E4.
Sawk resists most of Cilan's coverage and hits back hard.
Sawk resists most of Chili's coverage and hits back hard.
Sawk resists most of Cress's coverage and hits back hard.
Sawk resists most of Lenora's coverage and hits back hard.
Sawk has the type edge here and should clean up Burgh's team.
Sawk trades roughly evenly with Elesa's team.
Sawk resists most of Clay's coverage and hits back hard.
Sawk trades roughly evenly with Skyla's team.
Sawk resists most of Brycen's coverage and hits back hard.
Sawk has the type edge here and should clean up Drayden's team.
Sawk trades roughly evenly with Shauntal's team.
Sawk resists most of Grimsley's coverage and hits back hard.
Caitlin's team hits Sawk's weaknesses hard.
Sawk has the type edge here and should clean up Marshal's team.
Sawk has the type edge here and should clean up Alder's team.
Catch Sawk on Pinwheel Forest (walking, Lv 12-17, uncommon).
Black & White Sawk Locations
Sawk appears at decent spawn rates across 11 spots in early-game routes. Sort by Best below if you want the highest rate, or Earliest if you want the quickest access point in your playthrough.
Best Locations to Catch Sawk in Black & White
walking encounters for Sawk across 11 spots at Lv. 12-59. The catch is that Black and White don't share every location, so compare what's available in your version.
Sawk Weakness
Sawk's Fighting typing leaves it vulnerable to Flying and Psychic. Not many exploitable gaps in the Fighting typing defensive chart. With 75 HP and balanced defenses, Sawk can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Flying, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Bug, Rock, Dark |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Sawk Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Sawk
Musharna Psychic | C | |
Musharna Psychic | C | |
 Woobat Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sawk View Woobat builds →Dream Eater 2x68-82% Gust 2x30-36% | ||
 Farfetch'd Normal | C | |
 Pidove Normal | C | |
Musharna Psychic | C | |
Woobat Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sawk View Woobat builds →Dream Eater 2x65-77% Air Cutter 2x38-45% | ||
Farfetch'd Normal | C | |
 Tranquill Normal | D | |
Sigilyph Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sawk View Sigilyph builds →Dream Eater 2x95-113%KO Air Cutter 2x53-64% | ||
Musharna Psychic | C | |
Woobat Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sawk View Woobat builds →Dream Eater 2x62-74% Air Cutter 2x35-42% | ||
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodNacrene City Gift | ||
 Archen Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodNacrene City Gift | ||
Sigilyph Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sawk View Sigilyph builds →Dream Eater 2x97-114%KO Air Cutter 2x55-65% | ||
Musharna Psychic | C | |
Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodNacrene City Gift | ||
 Solosis Psychic | C | |
Woobat Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sawk View Woobat builds →Dream Eater 2x63-74% Fly 2x49-59% | ||
Sigilyph Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sawk View Sigilyph builds →Dream Eater 2x99-117%KO Air Cutter 2x56-67% | ||
Musharna Psychic | C | |
 Duosion Psychic | B | |
Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodNacrene City Gift | ||
Unfezant Normal | C | |
Sawk Evolutions
What you see is what you get. Sawk sits outside any evolution chain, so focus on the egg moves and plenty of partners from one egg group. Eggs are average hatch time. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Sawk with 53 breeding partners from the Humanshape egg group.
BW Sawk Best Moveset
125 Attack at 85 Speed with AbilitySturdy guaranteeing one hit survived from full HP or AbilityMold Breaker ignoring defensive abilities. The moveset fires devastating physical Fighting TermStab from MoveClose Combat. Fast and powerful with one guaranteed turn from Sturdy.
Best Build
Sawk best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Revenge Killer Moveset
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The level-up pool is slim, so TMs matter here. Sawk's Normal and Ground coverage and more all comes from technical machines, built on top of Close Combat and Focus Blast for same-type damage. Close Combat and Earthquake are the payoff moves.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The sound of Sawk punching boulders and trees can be heard all the way from the mountains where they train.
Tying their belts gets them pumped and makes their punches more destructive. Disturbing their training angers them.
Sawk Black & White Guide
In Black & White, Sawk looks average on paper at 465 BST. But Mold Breaker is why it sees play. Build around that and it pulls its weight. C-Tier cannon on our tier list. Close Combat with Choice Scarf is the standard set.
Sawk gets Mold Breaker, Sturdy, and Inner Focus. But Mold Breaker is the one that matters. It's the centerpiece of every viable set. Build around that.
Sawk is a physical attacker with base 125 Attack. Enough bulk to take a hit or two, too. Speed tells the real story. Base 85 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. Fits the cannon role.
In Black & White, run Close Combat, Icepunch, Stone Edge, and Earthquake on Sawk. Close Combat is the most common pick at 0% usage. This set covers the cannon role with a mix of damage and utility.
Game Availability
Since Black & White, Sawk has been obtainable in 8 games. A Generation 5 debut means a shorter history, but Sawk has appeared steadily across every generation since.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BWDebut
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves